EDFL: Josh Covelli stars in Hillside’s win over Roxburgh Park
Hillside coach Charlie Denaro says one of his stars is “exceeding expectations” as a young defender returned to the senior side for the first time since 2018 against Roxburgh Park.
Essendon
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Hillside coach Charlie Denaro says it “really was the unknown” when Josh Covelli signed for the club.
Stepping up from EDFL Division 2 with Burnside Heights, it wasn’t clear whether the 27-year-old’s goalkicking prowess would follow him to a higher division.
But he has delivered in spades for the Sharks.
In the last three games, Covelli has been named the best player on the ground for Hillside — one of those performances included no goals against Airport West.
But he was back among the goals with six in the 11.7 (73) to 10.12 (72) win over Roxburgh Park.
Those majors moved him to 33 for the season, fourth among all players and five behind leader Ned Gentile from Airport West who has 38.
Denaro said his star forward had done “everything right” to allow him to succeed against a higher standard of footy.
“He’s well and truly exceeded the expectations him and I set for him when we sat down at the start of the year,” he said.
“He gets brutalised by defenders every week and it doesn’t deter him from continuing to work on his game. It’s fantastic to see him getting the reward for effort.
“Even on Saturday, I spoke to him at halftime because things weren’t going his way and said to him his day could change with a couple of kicks and it did. He finished with four or five goals in the third quarter alone.
“It was a representation of how hard he has worked since coming to the club. I don’t think anyone enjoyed the win more than Josh.
“He was super pumped after the game.”
Covelli’s continued good form wasn’t the only positive to emerge from Saturday’s game either.
The one-point win also marked Hudson Shaw’s first senior game since 2018 as the 21-year-old completed a stunning return from a series of “horror injuries”.
He was named among the home side’s better players alongside Lachlan Henson, Paris Grampsas, Jackson Volpato and Luke Sammut.
“He’s been one of our better defenders in the reserves in recent weeks and deserved a shot,” Denaro said.
“Some of the players Roxburgh Park had meant we had a good match up for him. He started off a little shaky but finished with eight contested marks all in the defensive half and just under 20 touches.
“It was a fantastic return to senior footy.”
The win keeps Hillside in touching distance of the top four two games behind Westmeadows, Rupertswood and Roxburgh Park who all have a 6-4 record.
And Denaro his side can shake up the ladder in the back half of the season.
“In the first half of the year we’ve been in winning positions but then lost close games,” he said.
“All the text messages and phone calls I’ve had since the end of the game shows how much confidence there is in our group. We want to be competitive for four quarters every week.
“We’re not setting any targets for ourselves but with some players to still come back in who knows what’s possible.”
Terrone Roberts-Potter was named best afield for Roxburgh Park while Brock Heathcote and Matt Patane kicked three goals apiece.
Hillside next faces a trip to the Sunbury Kangaroos while the Magpies host Rupertswood.
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